Angel Traps
by zammi
Summary: Sam, Dean and Castiel are investigating disappearances near Denver, when Dean and Cas get kidnapped themselves. They are stuck in an angel-proof room, and it might be a while before Sam finds them. Contains some violence and conflict between Cas and Dean.
1. Chapter 1

_Hello Fanfiction, it's zammi. This is my firt story, please tell me what you think. This is supposed to be set sometime about midway through season 10. Dean still has the mark of Cain. Read, review, flame, hate, whatever, just do something!_

Chapter 1

Dean woke up to a blaring rendition of _Lady_ by Styx, to which he responded with the Winchester glare. Sam patted him on the back and countered with a simple "your boyfriend is here." Cas stood awkwardly outside the Impala where Dean and Sam where bickering. Dean turned down the radio and casually slid out.

"What have you got for us today, Cas? Angels? Demons? Ghosts? Mutant Parakeets?"

"To my knowledge, there have been no recorded incidents involving hunters and mutated avians."

"Not the point Cas. What is it?"

"I believe someone is imprisoning or killing angels."

"Oh. Any idea who or why?"

"I hear they make good boyfriend material" Sam butted in.

He was met by an angry look and a confused stare.

"Where do you believe the angel-napper is hiding out?" Dean asked.

"Somewhere in the vicinity of Denver. I cannot see the area from heaven, and no angel known to frequent that area has been heard from in over a week."

"OK. We can be there in less than three hours." Dean said, already planning out the route in his mind.

"It would be more efficient for me to fly there"

"Sorry Cas, but you are sitting this one out. Thanks for the job, but flying an angel into the angel version of the Bermuda Triangle is not a good idea."

After contemplating triangle of Bermuda, Cas responded with righteous gusto: "An angel may be responsible for these disappearances, and if so it is my duty to protect my brothers and sisters. I have hunted with you before, and on more than one occasion, saved you life. I am coming."

"If this is an angel, won't they sense you zapping in? You know, Angel sonar and all? And more importantly, whoever this is taking out angels. You are an angel. Go take a week off and work on your tan. You need it." Dean quipped.

"I am uncertain as to how skin tone effects my performance as a hunter. However, I can minimize risk of detection by riding with you to Denver. As long as I do not use angelic powers, I should not show up on 'angel sonar.'"

"I don't know Cas. This just seems like a bad idea."

"How many times have you entered a trap know it was a trap?"

Dean and Sam share a long, tense, look and Sam shrugged and said "He's right, you know."

"Hop in Cas" Dean sighed, defeated.

Two and a half hours, six Chick-O-Sticks, an argument over whether or not Redbone was from Texas or California, and a discussion over the feasibility of a killer mutant parakeet later…

"Cas, how do you know someone is responsible for this? Could it just be residual turmoil in heaven from the war?"

"You might call it a gut feeling, intuition, a hunter's insight, a sixth sense, a hunch, healthy suspicion-"

"We get it, Cas, we get it." sniped Sam.

Dean stopped the Impala by an older building in Aurora1 and asked "you picking up anything Cas? Any vibes, feelings, senses,-

"Not you too! Get a room!" cried Sam.

They began to explore the suburbs, splitting into teams of two. Dean insisted rather forcefully that he go alone, and that Castiel and Sam go together. With a knowing wink, Sam walked off after Cas, leaving Dean to not admire the view from behind.

Dean walked away from the neighborhood, toward a small forest. He wandered through the trees, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Dean was an experienced hunter, and he could tell when things were normal and when _things_ were supernatural.

After a fruitless search, the plaid-clad hunter began to trek back to the car. He was about to call Sam's cell when he saw a blinding flash of white light, and heard a shout. He sprinted towards the sound, and got their just in time to see Castiel, lunging away from the source of the light. Dean surged forward, trying to grasp Cas's sleeve. Years of combat- trained instincts kicked into high gear. He watched as the ground fell away from underneath the light, and the ravine spread out, quickly engulfing the ground beneath the angel and the human. They collided as they fell, Dean still holding on to Cas's arm. The next moment they were swallowed by the earth and thrust into darkness.

1Aurora is a suburb to the East of Denver.

_So? What do you think of Chapter 1? If you have any ideas for a better name, please leave it in the comments! Thank you for reading!_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Castiel woke to the sound of Dean's pacing. The rugged man with such incredible green eyes was going over the room they were in. On the walls there were Enochian sigil, which radiated light. The ground was a kind of odd, woven carpet, interspersed randomly with tufts of grass and leaves. The ceiling seemed to be made of dirt, which somehow was not crumbling down on top of them. The room was rectangular, about twelve feet by twenty feet, and about seven and a half feet high. The room was empty except for the two men.

Cas tried to stand up, but immediately knew something was wrong. He was powerless, probably thanks to the sigil on the wall.

"Dean" he cried out, startling his companion.

"Hey Cas. You were out for a while."

"Dean, I think I'm powerless. The Enochian sigil are keeping me from contacting Sam or using my Grace."

"Are you OK? Are the sigil hurting you?" Dean glared at the writing on the wall, becoming protective of his friend.

"No, I think my condition is stable for now, and I am not in pain. However, for all intents and purposes, I am currently human."

"Great. I tried to scratch off the sigil already, but it grew back. The wall has got some serious voodoo."

Dean gestured to the wall with his silver knife. It looked like compacted dirt, with the occasional root or patch of moss surfacing. The taller man cut the wall with his knife, but after a few seconds the roots seemed to heal themselves and the dirt filled back in.

Cas looked around for a door or any means of escape, but the walls were uniformly brown interspersed with roots.

"There are no hidden doors or hollow areas behind the wall. I've tapped every inch of the room. Twice."

"I believe we were brought here through witchcraft. The object omitting light appeared to be a hex bag, and I did not feel the presence of an angel's Grace."

"Witches? Why did it have to be witches?"Dean mumbled something about bodily fluids and glared at the earthen wall.

"Aha! Fire!" Dean pulled a solid black lighter out of his pocket, flipped it open and tossed at the wall.

The wall caught fire briefly, then went out. A small, charred circle was left, but after a few seconds, that started to fade away as well.

Castiel walked up behind his human friend and said "I appreciate the idea, though we would most likely have asphyxiated had the wall truly caught fire."

"Maybe, but we've been in here a while, and we both seem to be breathing fine. Air must somehow be getting in and out."

"If you are correct, that means that whoever, or whatever, trapped us down here must want us alive. However, I am uncertain how a witch would use an angel, and we must assume that the same person who has abducted or killed the angels has kidnapped us.…. Does your phone have service?"

"Nada"

"Well, Sam saw where I was headed, so he should eventually figure out where we are."

"We might die of thirst before he does"

"I am analyzing the situation Dean. It might behoove you to be helpful."

"You don't have the heavenly halo backing you. Don't make threats you can't follow through on."

"I have saved your life more times than you can count. I would advise to not do something you will regret."

"Cas, I have saved the world more times than I can remember. I can take care of myself, without a bright, white light or angel wings."

Directly above where Dean and Castiel were bickering, Sam Winchester was dissecting a hex bag.

Yew… could mean anything… dried Oak leaves… most likely a transportation spell… yarrow… the active ingredient, power source… salt and vetvier… probably used to target the spell…

Sam walked back to the Impala and set the disemboweled hex bag on the passenger seat. He looked at his phone to see if his brother or Cas had responded to his texts or calls. No dice.

While Sam wasn't opposed to the thought if Dean and Cas being alone… together… he was still worried about them. Where were they?

In the underground room

Dean was frustrated. He was stuck in an underground prison with a cranky angel, and it did not look like that was going to change anytime soon. Not that he hadn't tried to escape, mind you. The wall in front of him had endured both hunters' best attempts to harm it. Castiel had tried every incantation he could remember, and Dean had tried cutting it, burning it and urinating on it (much to Castiel's annoyance). Three hours had passed since Dean had woken up, and they were both getting thirsty.

" Witches. Witches that want angels. Witches that want angels alive. What could you use an angel for? Blackmail heaven?"

"More than likely, our captors use an angel's grace before slaughtering them. A skilled witch could probably use an angel's grace for months, if not years, before the angel died."

"Why would a witch need an angel's Grace? Mood lighting?"

"Dean. Whoever captured us will kill you when they find that you are not an angel. We need to escape before then. If you have something to say that might actually help us escape, please speak up. Otherwise, stop talking."

"Cas, I don't know what's ruffling your feathers, and I don't really care. But I am pretty sure that the more we fight, the less we get done. If you weren't here, I would be out already!"

Castiel's face twisted into that serious glare that Dean hated, the one that Castiel only used when he meant business. "I rebelled against Heaven for you. I have killed my brothers and sisters for you. I have become human for you. I would love some gratitude and respect. But instead it's "Goodbye Cas! See you next time my ass needs saving!" I am tired, Dean. I have lived since the Beginning, but I have never met anyone as infuriating as you!"

"Castiel, Angel of the Lord, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't even be in this mess. That hex bag would never have activated. Hell, I wouldn't even be on this hunt if it weren't for you!"

"You wouldn't be alive if it weren't for me. But next time I won't come. You can handle the angels and the demons and the witches and everyone else who wants you dead by yourself. I will not bring you back from the dead again."

"Good. The next time your start a Holy Civil War, don't expect me to come running again. And the next time that you lose the angel tablet, don't expect come calling for help from me. I'm sick of helping you and getting trouble in return. I am on the angel's hit list because I stuck my neck out for you!"

Castiel stood up. Dean leapt to his feet without realizing he had moved until after he was mere feet from his friend.

Castiel didn't care. The eyes, the fighting stance, that look of determination that would make the most reckless fighter wary did not faze the angel in the slightest. Castiel regretted his next words the second they left his mouth.

"If I wish I had never saved you from Hell!"

Dean felt the ground beneath him squish against his foot as he lunged forward. He felt the air around him as he moved. He felt Castiel's nose against his fist.

Castiel had just enough time to register what happened before blacking out.

_What do you think? Sorry for the late update, I forgot I had a Fanfiction Account nad had only been posting to DeviantArt. By the way, feel free to post this stroy anywhere, edit it in any way or say anything about it that you want to. I don't even need credit, but it would be nice if you were to tell me where you are putting it._


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Dean broke Castiel's nose, then followed up with a satisfying punch to the angel's stomach. He stood there, panting, with Castiel bent around his fist. Dean let his friend drop to the ground. Castiel's unconscious form made a soft _thud_ as it fell to the earthen floor.

In the Impala

Sam felt himself slipping into the routine of tracking the bad guy. He was a hunter, and this is what he did. He had compiled a list of unusual sightings, made a map, measured a hunting ground and the approximate position of the witch's hideout. He was guessing it was a witch because of three other reports of the same light he saw, and because there was a hex bag in police custody matching the one he found earlier. Guessing from the territory, there was only one witch, and the hex bags indicated that the kidnapper used traps rather than direct confrontation. Sam Winchester really hoped it was a kidnapping witch and not a murdering witch that he was dealing with.

He had guessed where the next trap might be set and gotten a motel room near there. It was North of Greenwood Village, with good visibility in all directions. It was close to Cherry Creek Park, and was in a nice neighborhood, but Sam wasn't here for a vacation. He was here to save his brother. Still, in his line of work, vacations were rare and one had to relax when one could.

Sam went out for a drink or two, and to do some reconnaissance on the area. He sat down at Costa's restaurant and bar and waited patiently. His instincts were screaming that something was going to happen here.

Back in the Underground Room

Dean felt like he always felt after winning a fight: powerful. Only this time it wasn't a fight, there was no beheaded vampire or burnt ghost laying in the corner. He looked over to see he was still breathing, but the blood in his ears was too loud for him to go over and check on him more than that. He slumped into the earthen corner and banged his fist against the dirt.

Eventually, Dean calmed downed and crashed off his adrenaline-fueled burst of energy. He glared at Castiel for a minute or two before falling asleep.

Hours later, Castiel woke up. His nose was bleeding and his stomach hurt as if he was menstruating. (Castiel, having lived since the Third Day, had had many vessels before Jimmy Novak. Some of them had been female. The angel remembered quite distinctly _that_ experience and never wanted to repeat it.) He stood up and waited for the nosebleed to stop. He spent a minute contemplating what had happened, calculated all of his possible courses of action and the implications of each, and then very calmly walked over to Dean and kicked him as hard as he could.

Dean sprang up, years of experience waking to fights driving him into a fighting stance. In getting up, he caught the leg that was still extended towards him. The end result of this motion was Castiel on his back, looking up at Dean, who was holding Castiel's foot. They stared each other down for a second, before Castiel tried to stand up. This would have worked had Dean let go of the angel's foot. Dean did not let go of the angel's foot.

"You have my foot"

"Yeah"

They stood, or laid awkwardly as the case may be, for what seemed to be an eternity.

"Are you going to give it back?"

Dean let Castiel's foot drop unceremoniously to the ground.

In an Alleyway

Sam Winchester was tense. This was it. Seconds ago, a stereotypically shady figure had just set down a hex bag and muttered what could very possibly have been an activation spell for the angel trap. Sam smiled as the witch walked down the alley where the younger Winchester had set his own trap. When the witch was about halfway through the alley, Sam stepped into the alley and began shouting "_Furor divina virtute in infernum eam detrude"_. The result vaguely reminded the young hunter of the Fourth of July.

After enjoying the view, Sam dragged the witch down the alley to the Impala and kicked her into the back. If he had cast the spell right, he had about six hours before the spell wore off and he had an angry witch to deal with. Sam sent a silent "thank you" up to Bobby for teaching him that particular trick.

As Sam drove back the spot where he had last seen Dean and Castiel, he began wondering what they had been doing while he was hunting the witch…

Probably knocking each other senseless, come to think of it.

When those two were together there was friction (the bad kind, not the friction caused by a trench coat rubbing up against a plaid shirt and denim jeans). They did not always rub each other the wrong way, but recently something had changed. When they were out hunting and Dean did something stupid, Castiel was all over him. When Castiel did not show up every time Dean or Sam was in trouble, Dean nearly assaulted him.

Sam cleared his head as he arrived at the spot where he had found the hex bag. Hauling the still unconscious witch out of the Impala, he roughly threw her to the ground. She was an ugly one to be sure. Long nose, a large wart, more wrinkles than he cared to count and breath that smelled of fresh blood.

The younger Winchester kicked the witch until she woke up. This was not particularly pleasant waking up as she was being kicked by man pointing a shotgun at her.

"Move and I'll split you in two."

No mere hunter talked to her like that. She had a trick up her sleeve for just such an occasion. She reached into her sleeve and pulled out a vial of Grace.

Sam was also prepared for just such an occasion. He broke her arm with the butt of his shotgun.

"Your trap caught two of my friends. You have thirty seconds to get them out before I break the other arm."

Predictably, the witch started screaming about how he would suffer until he knew only pain and then beg for the sweat release of death. Sam Winchester raised the shotgun again and the witch began quietly working on freeing the trapped hunters.

In the Underground Room

"As if you have been so reliable! Every time my ass is in the frying pan, you've had more important things do be doing! But God forbid, I show the slightest bit of apathy whenever someone in Heaven has a problem!"

Dean and Castiel had been hostile towards each other since Castiel woke up. They were both sick of arguing, but neither one wanted to get into a fistfight or back down.

"You know as well as I do that you don't need me. I'm the big strong hunter, I never want any help from anyone!"

Dean tried and failed to come up with a counterpoint to that rather un- angelic outburst. Instead, he said "I'm not the big strong hunter. I know that. I am not invincible. I have died, so I know I'm not immortal. What I am is human. Unfortunately for me, my 'guardian angel' switches between ignoring that fact and rubbing it in my face!"

Castiel's voice was uncharacteristically emotional as spoke the two words Dean was least expected to hear: "I'm sorry".

There was silence for an eternity and an age before the silence was broken by an unexpected source when the ceiling began rumbling.

Castiel noticed three conflicting emotions on Dean's face, the first and foremost relief at being rescued, embarrassment at what his brother had just caught him admitting and something that the angel could only guess was regret.

So what do you think so far? I am sorry about the long wait. It may be a while before the next update because school is starting back up, but I hope to have another chapter up by the end of the month.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

In the Impala

Sam made a quick checklist in his head of things that would set off alarm bells for him: is the witch dead? Check. Are his tracks covered? Check. Are his friends and family safe? Check for now.

So what was bothering him? The young Winchester's hunter sense was tingling. He looked around him, but all he saw was his brother in the seat beside him and his friend Cas in the back. There were no vampires, no demons, no werewolves and no witches. Despite Sam's apparent security, he felt like a baby deer about to be squished by an eighteen-wheeler.

Dean, in the back of his mind, was aware of his brother's discomfort. Pressing slightly more importantly in his mind was the question of what to with the recovered grace, and most urgently Dean was watching the angel who had recently appeared in the seat behind him. Dean knew it was foolish, but from the second that the hole in the ceiling had opened and Castiel had regained his powers, the hunter felt like Cas was going to smite him.

Perhaps the most chaotic thoughts were those of Castiel. He was struggling internally between physically injuring the hunter in front of him and hugging him in relief. The first thousands of years of Castiel's life were filled with a normal amount of activity for an angel: doing something outside of heaven about once every century and then returning. Before meeting the Winchesters he had spent about 25 years total on Earth, in a vessel. Since meeting the Winchesters he had spent about as much time away from heaven as he had in the past four centuries combined. It had been a rollercoaster-ride of betrayal, forgiveness, redemption and battle. He had become a God, been murdered by his Brother, revived by his Father, been driven insane by Lucifer, and gone through countless other tribulations with the Winchesters. When he first met Dean, he was in Hell, and he had "gripped him tight and raised him from Perdition." Cas smiled slightly as he remembered how out of place his speech and inflection had been. His smile faded as he remembered some of the bad things too,- Dean becoming a demon, his trying to kill the Winchesters, the Winchesters trying to kill him and his time in Purgatory. After a while, he thought about his family he first thought about his eldest Brothers, whose fight caused so much grief, and then those angels who showed him kindness and friendship, such as Anna Milton, Balthazar, Gabriel and Hannah. Finally, he thinks about his latest family, the two brothers sitting in the front of the Impala. He wondered how long they will last before they turn against him, or worse, die and don't come back. He looks up at Dean and Sam, wondering if those two will end as tragically as all of his relationships seemed to. Castiel knew that they would both give their lives for him, at least at the moment. Until their next adventure, he was content with that.

Fin

So? What did you think? Thanks to all who stuck with the story so far. It's not bad for my first story, but it's still not as good as I want it to be, especially the ending. The story is done for now, and I don't have any plans for sequels in the near future. I would like to extend a special thanks to Tmk13 and pryde23, as well as anyone who followed this story. Please comment, I love hearing what you think even if it is criticism. Thanks and love,

Zammi


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